From Hot to Cold and Back Again
by PatonxJulia
Summary: Charlie and his friends are slightly bored. They don't have a dangerous mission, or any of those things going on. A girl will come along who will change that. A girl who has a special connection with one of the group.
1. Chapter1: A Girl Named Ria

**Charlie Bone Short Story**

A/N: Ok, my first story, so I'm a little nervous. I don't want any flames please, but constructive criticism is welcome. Basically I was re-reading the Charlie Bone series and got inspired. Hope you like it! Review please.

Disclaimer:

Me: Much to my chagrin, I do not own Charlie Bone. If I did, there would be more Fidelio/ Liv.

Chapter One: A girl named Ria

Charlie had just escaped from number nine. He didn't know how long he could avoid Grandma Bone, but he would try for as long as he could.

Charlie thought about the events of that morning on the way to the Pet's Café. He had been coming down the stairs, about to go to the café, when Grandma Bone had intercepted him. " You have a school paper to do young man!" She had yelled. " Already done" mumbled Charlie, pulling on his coat.

" I don't believe you. You're a liar, we all know that!" This statement wasn't exactly true. Charlie wasn't very prone to lying all the time. Conversations with Grandma Bone were the exception.

" I'm not lying. I'm going out now." Charlie continued toward the door, but Grandma Bone stepped in front of him. " You're not going anywhere!"

" Leave him alone Grizelda!" Uncle Paton to the rescue! He was standing at the top of the stairs, wearing a long black coat with the collar turned up. On top of his head was a black fedora, with a dark green length of silk around the rim.

The following fight had turned into a blazing inferno of thrown words, from which Charlie had fled from, as if his heels were on fire. He never liked to be around when Uncle Paton and Grandma Bone were at it.

Recalling this episode, he nearly ran into Fidelio on the corner of frog street. It was Saturday, so Charlie wasn't expecting to see any of his friends at the café. And yet, here was Fidelio. " Hi Charlie!" said Fidelio cheerily. " What are you doing over here?"

" Uncle Paton and Grandma Bone are at it again" said Charlie. Fidelio nodded understandingly. He was no stranger to Charlie's reports of fights in number nine.

The two boys continued on to the Pet's Café. To Charlie's surprise they found Olivia and Emma there as well. " You two? What are you doing here on a Saturday?"

Olivia, looking slightly offended, said " What, Charlie Bone, no hello?" Emma grinned and looked at Charlie and Fidelio. " We came here to say hello to Mr. Onimous and the Flames. We couldn't think of anything else to do, so…." Her sentence trailed off as if she didn't know what else to say.

Just then Mr. Onimous came over to their table carrying a tray of what looked like bird seed that was covered in multi-colored chocolate. " Mrs. Onimous says that you all look too thin, and to get you something to eat" he said merrily, setting the tray onto the table.

Charlie was just about to ask how bird seed would make them less thin when Gabriel walked in. " Good grief" said Charlie exasperated. " Is there a meeting that I didn't hear about?"

" I just wanted to get my gerbil a treat" said Gabriel, sitting down. A conversation followed this statement, a conversation that Charlie didn't really follow. He was thinking about the coincidence of all of them meeting here at the same time. He knew that his Uncle Paton didn't believe in coincidence, but if it wasn't coincidence what was it?

Just as he had this thought a girl ran in. " Hey Gabe, can I have that extra gerbil that I asked you to bring?" Fidelio asked Gabriel. Gabriel handed Fidelio a gerbil while Charlie finally registered that what Fidelio had said meant that this meeting had been planned. Than he thought about the direction Fidelio had been heading.

Fidelio would have had to walk in the direction that he had been heading to get to Charlie's house. Had Fidelio been coming to find Charlie?

Fidelio walked over to the girl and handed her the gerbil that he had gotten from Gabriel. The girl smiled and followed Fidelio over to the groups table.

Fidelio grinned and said " Guys, I want you to meet my sister, Ria."


	2. Chapter2: New Revelations

Chapter Two: New Revelations

**A/N: Ok, so I just figured out that you have to have a separate file for every chapter you upload. So to those of you that have 45 chapter stories, I have a new respect. Anyway, I don't own CB, yata yata. **

Charlie's jaw dropped. He had known that Fidelio had tons of siblings, but he had not known that Fidelio had had a sister that was the exact same age as him.

Ria Gunn was a tall girl with deep brown hair that had been permanently dyed with streaks of gold, creating a catch the light effect. Her eyes were such a deep brown that you could hardly tell where iris ended and pupil began. Her complexion was perfect. Her skin was tanned, yet not very dark. She was one of the most beautiful girls that Charlie had ever seen.

Tancred swept in at that moment. " Sorry I'm late. I…" He stopped dead when he saw Ria. " Who…. What?" He was obviously confused. Ria stood up and smiled. " Hi, I'm Ria. I'm also Fidelio's sister." Tancred smiled and said hello. Charlie noticed a slight bit of color come into Emma's cheek's.

Tancred took a seat next to Emma, and Emma lost that bit of color, that Charlie finally recognized as jealousy. I can be so clueless sometimes Charlie though.

"Ria plays the harp, but she's a genius when it comes to singing. Mom and Dad are going to enroll her in Bloors this semester. They're also going to put her in drama, so that she and Olivia will be in the same section. Ria's a really good actress too. We're hoping that there will be a position in one of the upcoming plays that will use both her acting skills and her voice." It was not very hard to see that Fidelio was extremely proud of his sister.

" So Ria, how old are you?" Asked Olivia, always to the point.

" I'm only two hours younger then Lio, but he seems to think that I'm still too young to take care of myself."

Several revelations surfaced in Charlie's mind. One, Fidelio had a twin, and two, Ria called Fidelio Lio. Olivia looked like she was about to burst. You could just tell that the words " Why didn't I think of calling him Lio" were going through her head.

" Whoa, whoa, whoa, you're a twin?" Tancred looked just as confused as Charlie, which made Charlie feel a little less clueless. Fidelio looked surprised, as if this was common knowledge.

" I thought that I had told you" he said, looking like it was a no-brainer. Emma, looking aghast, said quietly " Fidelio this is the sort of thing that is kind of hard to forget being told."

Ria, looking quite pleased with the commotion she had caused, smiled and said " Fidelio and I are very different, so he usually forgets that we're even twins."

Ria smiled a smile that would never be forgotten by anyone present at the small meeting. She looked at her watch and started. " Lio, I've got to get to that audition."

" Righto" said Fidelio, jumping up. Ria stood and the group got a really good look at her, not just the slight view they had had when she came in. She was wearing a light green T-shirt, jeans that continued to fan out as they went down, and a black jacket that came down in a V line and buttoned on top of her stomach.

" Ria is auditioning for a part in the community play. She is going to get the part. It's impossible for her not to. She's bloody brilliant! Of course the play goes on before she leaves for Bloors."

"OOH! Can I come! It sounds really exciting!" Of course Olivia would want to go. It must just be part of her personality. Always in everyone else's business.

" Of course you can come!" Said Ria. All dramatic girls must think alike. Fidelio, Ria, Olivia, and Emma, who had decided to come, walked out of the Pet's café and headed to the theater.

This left Charlie, Tancred and Gabriel. " Well, I say we go and watch people make either complete fools of themselves, or be brilliant. Let's go sit in the seats of the theater, see if Ria is successful or not."

The boys went up and paid for their lunch. After this they went up the street and to the theater that was on a street somewhere near the square.

They entered quietly and took seats in the back. They read a flier that Gabriel had taken off a bulletin board. The play was supposed to be something to the effect of Peter Pan. The lead part for girls was Jane, but that's not what Ria was going for. Ria was going for Tinkerbell.

Charlie had to admit that Ria fit the part. She was kind, slim, and ,according to Fidelio, could get very angry, and hold a grudge. Perfect personality fit.

The first person up was a girl that was about Ria's age. She was going for Jane. Over all not a bad performance, but the girl was too young for the part. It showed.

Ria was the second up. She had decked herself out. She was in the green mini-dress and all. She put on a completely believable and over all adorable performance, as was needed for the part. At the end of her segment the directors were literally left with their mouths hanging open.

All other candidates for Tinker Bell were immediately told to either choose a different part to go for, or to go. All of the directors knew that they would find no one better suited for the part.

Charlie, Gabriel, and Tancred found the others backstage. Fidelio was doing some sort of happy dance with his sister. Not the type that would make any guy cringe, but still embarrassing. Tancred gave a snort of laughter, and Fidelio stopped short.

Fidelio blushed like crazy. Ria just grinned. " Hey guys. When did you get here?" Gabriel was tongue tied, and Tancred was too busy smirking at Fidelio, so Charlie had to tell Ria.

" We came just before auditions started. We were in the back, so you probably didn't see us. You were brilliant though." Charlie finished with a smile.

Ria grinned and said " I'll be right back guys. I'm going to go and change." She sped off toward the dressing rooms, passing Emma and Olivia on the way.

" The costume section isn't as big as at Bloors, but it doesn't have that eerie feel, which I would trade for almost any costume in the world." Olivia said while she bounced up to the guys. Emma approached a little more subtly.

" Hey Emma." Tancred finally stopped smirking at Fidelio to greet Emma, something he hadn't done for Ria. Emma felt a little more content with that feeling.

" Hello Tancred" she said in the soft voice that seemed to always creep into conversation when she was talking. " What's going on here? Why is Fidelio blushing like he was just caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar?"

Of course, this made Fidelio blush even more. Gabriel sniggered, Charlie grinned, and Tancred burst out laughing. " He was caught doing a, in search of a better word, happy dance." This brought on another fit of giggles from the boys, a doubled over bout of laughing from Olivia, a smile from Emma, and more blushing on Fidelio's part.

" Well Lio" said Olivia relishing every second of being able to use Fidelio's new nickname " that's certainly something that you wouldn't normally do. Why the sudden change? I think Ria's a good influence. Or a bad one, depending on how you look at it."

Ria got back just then. She was back in her T-shirt and jeans and jacket. " I think Lio and I probably need to get home" she said, looking at her watch. Fidelio nodded and said goodbye. Eventually each one of the group said goodbye and left.

Charlie walked back along the route that led to Filbert street. He snuck into the house and ran up to his room. Once there he picked up a book and started to read. The rest of his day continued in this fashion.

The next day Charlie decided to go to Ingledew's seeing as his Uncle, and hopefully some of Charlie's friends, would be there.

Charlie pushed open the door to Ingledew's and found Uncle Paton looking at a book. That wasn't new. In fact, looking at books was practically all Uncle Paton did at Ingledew's. Well, almost all. Every now and then he would glance Mrs. Ingledew's way. Just then Uncle Paton glanced up at Charlie. " Ah, Charlie dear boy. We were starting to wonder where you were. We found something very interesting about the Red King."

A\N: Cue the Paton awesomeness! He is my favorite character in the entire series. There's a little button down at the bottom of the screen. Do me a favor and click. Review's much appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3: Temperate What?

Chapter Three: Temperate What?

Charlie was astounded. His Uncle had discovered a new talent that could be found. So far no one had inherited it, not even one of the Red Kings original ten children.

The endowment was a temperature controller. "It was said that the red king could change the temperature of any particular object. It was even said that he could change the temperature of the molecules in the air, effectively making it colder or hotter."

Uncle Paton was obviously excited. He had just made a completely amazing breakthrough.. Not only had the Red King had this talent, but it was possible that one of his descendants could have it to.

" Your Uncle found it. He was looking through one of the oldest books I own. He found a hidden page with a legend on it. A legend about the Red King" said Mrs. Ingledew, obviously pleased that something this important had come from one of her books.

Just then Dorcas Loom and her brothers came in. This time they had left the Rottweiler's at home.

" I've come to find a book on a certain herb that I need, that I don't know where to find it." Dorcas didn't take her eyes off Charlie the entire time that she was talking, but not in an infatuation way. No, this was in an " I will hate you for all time" way.

" I have a book that you might like" said Mrs. Ingledew, obviously worried that these people might damage her books. Uncle Paton stepped up to the counter, always the protector.

" Aw. Charlie's Uncle is in love with the bookshop keeper!" Dorcas said this through a sneer in a very snarky, high and mighty voice. Charlie wanted to tell her to shove off right there, but that wasn't going to win him any favors, so he bit his tongue.

The bell that was mounted over the door rang, signifying that someone had walked in. Charlie looked, expecting to see someone from a random part of the city, but instead, to his surprise, saw Ria.

" Hello Charlie. Came to see if Emma was in. We were going to go to Lio's concert." Then Ria noticed Dorcas Loom. "You!" Immediately Dorcas and her brothers turned. Dorcas seemed to falter at the sight of Ria.

A man looked in the window and Immediately Dorcas and her brothers started hopping from foot to foot, as if the ground underneath them was burning. Looking down Charlie saw that the ground under their feet was red hot.

Dorcas and her brothers ran out as if someone was aiming a gun at them. Ria laughed and Charlie sniggered. Uncle Paton looked stunned and immediately ran into the back room.

When Paton came back he was practically bursting with excitement. " Charlie dear boy, I believe that we just witnessed the use of a temperate endowment." Charlie was lost on the big words, but Ria immediately looked interested.

" Temperate endowment? As in raiser and lowerer of the level of vibration in molecules?" Charlie gave up. Smarter people than him were at work here.

Uncle Paton, clearly impressed by this girls intelligence level, started going on and on with her. Soon they were talking about a different subject entirely, and seeing as Charlie had lost the thread of the conversation long ago, he had no idea how the conversation had gotten to where it was.

Eventually Ria looked at her watch and found that Fidelio's concert was in a couple of minutes. Charlie tagged along, trying to understand the girls ramblings, but failing miserably. She was too smart for him.

Fidelio's concert was amazing, as it should be what with about fifty musical prodigies performing at the same time. It was not very surprising that at the end of the performance people were doing jumping ovations.

After the concert there was nothing eventful for several weeks. And then Ria started at Bloors.


	4. Chapter 4: She Smiled?

Chapter Four: She….. Smiled?

**A/N: Sorry I didn't put a note on the last one. I forgot to before I uploaded it, and I'm lazy so I didn't go back and put one on. Anyways, I own nothing except Ria and the plot line. Well, on with it then. Where's my tea….**

Several weeks later the semester ended. The weekend went by and was very uneventful, so much so that Charlie almost wanted to go back to school. Whether he wanted it to or not, Monday came to find Charlie Bone on a blue bus, sitting next to Fidelio Gunn, in front of Gabriel Silk and Billy Raven, who had spent the weekend with Gabriel.

Once the bus had arrived at school, the boys found Olivia and Ria in a deep and serious conversation about why the hair color of yellow didn't make any sense. Olivia and Ria were of the opinion that you were either bleach blonde, blonde, or dirty blonde, but there was no yellow.

Of course the boys would take no part in this, so they went to find Tancred, Lysander, and Dagbert. They found them in the art room, admiring Emma's mural. The mural was that of a Phoenix. Emma had layered the colors of the wing feather's to the point that it really did look like a wing on fire, which was the way all Phoenix's were always described.

Olivia and Ria walked in, just as Tancred was marveling at Emma's skill. Still absorbed in their debate, the girls walked right into the group. " Oh my gosh, sorry!" said Ria.

" I guess I got really sidetracked." Ria's statement was obviously true, seeing as she had walked right into Gabriel, who immediately blushed and scurried out the door, murmuring something about leaving his boots in the coat room.

Everyone walked out talking about different things. In Emma and Tancred's case, they were talking about Tancred's new sculpture plan, discreetly holding hands. This fact did not go unnoticed by Ria, but she kept to herself.

Conversation between Olivia and Ria turned to Ria's cape, which she had gotten in one of the older versions, which was more of a maroon than purple. Ria, who could not handle the cape's blandness, had sewn light pink feathers around the side.

" I would have put purple feathers on, but I couldn't find any around the house. We had these left from one of my sister's costumes for a play she was doing at her school, which is regular." While Ria and Olivia were exclaiming over Ria's genius, Billy, Fidelio, Lysander, and Charlie were talking about the latest soccer game.

While the kids went to their classes, a shadowy figure lurked in the halls, too old for the school, yet not wanting to leave it. Not allowed to leave it.

Manfred Bloor was bored. Nothing had happened yet to catch his interest. The bell rang and the classrooms slowly emptied. He went near the class that Olivia Vertigo was taking. He needed to do SOMETHING, even if it was just making fun of the drama girl's hair.

Olivia strode out of the class room, and Manfred stalked forward, his mouth already forming the first word of his snide remark. He stopped dead when the girl Olivia was talking to came out of the room. Manfred's comment died in his throat. Not only did it die, it fled his memory.

Olivia and the Ria walked on, not aware of the effect that the newest student of Bloor's had had on the head boy. Manfred continued to stare, and Ria turned, as if sensing his eyes on her. Seeing Manfred, she smiled. And it wasn't malicious, or sarcastic. It was a genuine smile. Manfred had to honestly think to figure out the last time a girl had really smiled at him. If he was correct, it had been over seven years ago. **A/N: Just so you don't freak out like my sister did, the interest between Manfred and Ria is one sided. I will have quite a few one sided relationships with her. Only one will be two sided. I know what your thinking. Geez, cryptic much?**


	5. 5: The Thirteen Year Old Angel of Music

Chapter Five: The Thirteen Year Old Angel of Music

**A/N: Whoa, this one looks weird. Anyway, hope you like the chapter. * Looks at Manfred who is glaring menacingly* And I'm going to say that I don't own anything, so now I can go smack that glare off his face. * Runs after the fleeing Manfred.* **

_Ria had just finished her first class in Bloor's. She had the strangest feeling that this was only the beginning of a long relationship between her, and the academy whose halls she now roamed. A not so pleasant relationship. _

_ She took her opportunity to glance Olivia over. Her hair was fiery red, though Ria was told that this particular characteristic could change quite a lot. _

_ Olivia's personality was somewhat bubbly, but mostly it was just awesome. She was neither a complete bimbo, nor a tom boy. No, Olivia was somewhere in between. _

_ Emma had long blond hair and was slightly far away, almost as if her head was up in the clouds. ( __**A/N: Haha, see what I did there?**__) She was wearing black pants, that weren't jeans, but were cut like them. Her top was orange, and had a V-neck. There was a shimmery silver camisole underneath it that only showed in the lower half of the V-neck. Over all Emma came across as very put together, and a pretty good friend. _

_ Ria contemplated this as she walked to break. Olivia had ducked into the bathroom, so she was alone. She wasn't concerned though. Ria already knew the academy floor plan quite well. And, coincidentally, she knew that there was a short cut to the purple coat room that led through the music department._

_ Ria was walking along the corridor that was my short cut. She was striding past paintings, observing the brushwork and everything else that made them great. Then a sound broke through my mental block of all noise. That sound was music._

_ She followed the music to a door. Ria pulled the door open and slowly walked up the stairs that were hidden behind the door. She instantly recognized that the music came from a piano. She'd been living around music enough to know that._

_ At the top of the stairs was a door. Ria took a deep breath, and realized that she was nervous, though she'd no idea why. Slowly she pushed the door forward and beheld the room within._

_ The first thing that Ria noticed was the light. It was golden inside the room, and when she looked up, she saw that the light was coming from a small, yet more than adequate, chandelier. _

_ Then Ria saw the piano, which was, in and of itself a masterpiece. It was polished black, and the sound was rich and deep. Her eyes fell to the ivory keys, which were well worn, yet obviously well cared for. Then she saw the player. _

_ Ria was incredibly surprised, yet impressed, to see a boy her age playing the one of the most complex piece of piano music that she had ever heard. As her eyes came into focus she saw that the boy at the piano, was Gabriel Silk. _


	6. Chapter 6: 1894 Mahogany

Chapter Six: 1894 Mahogany

**A/N: Alright, sorry it took this long *cough- three days- cough* to update. I actually had this chapter halfway written when I uploaded my story, and only just finished it. I hope you like it. Sorry about the length too. I wanted to end it in a certain place, so it had to be this length. **

Ria was stunned. She had not known that Gabriel was that good. She walked into the room as silent as a cat. So silent that Gabriel didn't even know that she was there.

Gabriel kept on playing to until the hunting horn sounded. He looked up, surprised that break was over already. Then he saw Ria. He became so pale, that she thought he might faint.

" I heard you playing. I wanted to listen so I tracked it up here, and…" Ria felt that the rest of the sentence was evident enough. She strode forward and ran her hand over the piano.

" 1894, mahogany. Painted around two years ago. Well played, yet still in very good condition. Amazingly in tune, played by the hands of a master." Gabriel gaped. How had she known that?

Ria looked slightly defensive.

" What? I live in the Gunn house, I know a thing or two about instruments." A smile spread across her face.

"However, I've never learned to play piano. I would like to, but I know how busy Lio is, what with your guys' adventures. I need a teacher." Gabriel picked up the hint.

" I-I could t-teach you." He said quietly, almost under his breath. Ria beamed.

" Would you? Oh, this will be wonderful!" Gabriel practically melted at the sight of her elated smile. Then he remembered that his next class was one that he couldn't miss.

" We better g-get going." He said, hating himself for the stutter. Ria looked at her watch and started.

" Yeah. Can't be late for French." She grimaced just thinking about what the French teacher would have to say about her being late. She slowly started walking toward the door with Gabriel.

They walked down the stairs and started talking.

" So, when did you learn to play" Ria asked Gabriel. He blushed and told her the whole story, about how his sister had wanted to sing, and how he had taken many painstaking hours learning. Then he started telling her about the one time that his sister had actually climbed on the piano. At this point Ria was laughing full on, and Gabriel saw his chance. He gathered together what courage he had left, and asked, very quickly and all in one breath,

" Ria, would you like to have dinner, this Saturday night?"

**A/N: Ok guys, up till this point I've only had one review. I'm a little discouraged, but thanks to my first reviewer. Make me happy and renew my inspiration by clicking the little button down there and writing what you think. **


	7. Chapter 7: Imagine That

Chapter Seven: Imagine That

Gabriel melted as she laughed. He knew that he would give practically anything to hear it again. And he also knew that he had never felt this way about anyone. Ever.

As her laughter came to a close Gabriel blurted out unintentionally " Ria, will you have dinner with me this Saturday night?" He reddened, thinking that he hadn't known her very long, how could she possibly say-

"Yes. Of course I will." Gabriel was astounded by her answer. How could she, an amazing, wonderful, above his level person, want to go out with him?

When the shock settled he started thinking about where to go. He knew this nice restaurant on fifth street that had an amazing shrimp dish. Yes, that would do nicely.

Then he started thinking about the time.

" I'll pick you up at seven?" He said, slightly uncertainly. She nodded and they continued along their way. An unusual feeling of giddiness filled Gabriel. He smiled, thinking how wonderful Saturday was going to be. His first date. Imagine that.

Part Two

Gabriel and Ria walked to the courtyard on Friday. They had not told anyone about their date, a fact which would not be so in a few minutes. Or at least, it was true until Ria stepped on the purple bus and sat next to Olivia.

" Oh, yeah, I forgot to ask, but where did you go on Monday? At break?" Ria took a second to register the slipstream that was Olivia on Fridays, and then smiled, saying simply

" I took a shortcut, and started talking with someone." Ria, only to late, realized how vague that answer was, and how much it would pique Liv's curiosity, but the damage was done.

" Who? Was it a guy? What shortcut did you take? Is it anyone I know?" The questions came on like this until Ria held up her hand two minutes later, a signal for Liv to stop.

" Yes, you know him, yes it was a guy, and no, I won't tell you who." To which Olivia replied with her infamous Bambi eyes. Ria, who had been warned about the Bambi eyes by Fidelio, took no notice. Instead she took out a Sharpie and started to draw henna on her hand.

Olivia was positively dying with curiosity. She kept badgering Ria about it. Ria looked up absentmindedly and asked Olivia, quite unexpectedly

" Would you like a tattoo?" Olivia was intrigued, and Ria, seeing that she had succeeded in distracting Olivia from her badgering, started to draw on Olivia's hand.

In the fifteen minutes that it took for the bus to get to Olivia's house, which came before Ria's on the bus route, Ria had drawn a henna tattoo halfway up Olivia's arm. When Olivia climbed down the stairs to get off the bus she nearly tripped because she was still studying the intricate spider webs of lines and swirls.

The next stop on the bus was Ria's. She stepped off, and walked toward her house. Even as she was walking up the driveway, the blue bus pulled up. Fidelio jumped off, and a window opened toward the back of the bus. Out looked Gabriel, who saw Ria, waved and yelled " See you tomorrow." As it was clearly directed at Ria, Fidelio started thinking. Then he came to the obvious conclusion, and the tirade of brotherly protection started.


	8. Chapter 8: RULES!

Chapter Eight: RULES!

**A/N: Sorry it's taking longer and longer to update. I'm doing a lot of stuff right now, one of them being writing other Charlie Bone shorts. Anyways, I plan to have a lot of fun with Fidelio's brotherly tirade of protection. **** I'm sorry if Fidelio seems a little out of character. I just kind of planned on him being over protective.**

"Ria, are you sure you're ready for this? Ria, why didn't you tell me before? Ria, where are you going? How could you not know? You're not ready for this, you need to call it off" and so on and so forth. It seemed that Fidelio had again forgotten that Ria was the same age as him. However, when she pointed that fact out she got the usual reply.

" I'm older than you by ten minutes, which means that I have a license to be protective." Ria sighed. This conversation was looping on itself fast.

" Ria, it's obvious that I'm not going to be able to sway you, which has partially proven to me that you're ready. The other part is going to be how you handle the first date. There are a couple things that you CAN'T do." He handed her a sheet of paper that was on his desk, which he had been sitting at the entire time he was talking to Ria.

Ria looked at the page and saw that Fidelio had made a list of things she shouldn't do. She barely contained a snort of laughter. She read down the list:

No hand holding

You must be sitting on opposite sides of the table

The two of you must remain at least a foot from each other at all times

Absolutely NO kissing

The list continued, and with each item the laughter building up inside Ria got a little higher. By the time she read the last item she had her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

" Lio, some of these things are inevitable. You can't really expect us to stay a foot away from each other all night. We'll probably be closer than that at the table." Fidelio looked like he was about to start another speech. So Ria quickly amended

" But I'll try" Fidelio calmed down. He smiled, and Ria said

" Thanks for the guidelines Lio" and ran up the stairs to her room while Fidelio called after her

" RULES!"


	9. Chapter 9: Sad Feeling Gone

Chapter Nine: Sad Feeling Gone

**A/N: I just realized that it's been a long time since I've done a disclaimer. So, for the record, I own nothing other than Ria. Now that that's done, I can finally write about the date! So *mumbles* can show up and *mumbles* can happen. **

Gabriel took a deep breath as he approached Ria's door. His dad had agreed to drive them there and pick them up.

Gabriel was nervous. What if he made a fool of himself? What if he could never show his face in public again? But when he had voiced his worries, his father told him that he was just nervous, and that it would all be fine.

Gabriel rang the door bell.

" Door! Door! Door!" Came 's huge, recorded, voice. It was immediately answered by Fidelio. He seemed to be a little bit more serious than he normally was.

" Gabriel" Fidelio used Gabriel's long name, not his nickname. This could not be a good sign. " Come in."

Gabriel came inside the house. He noticed that all of the children seemed to be practicing their instruments. No one was in the front room except Mr. and Mrs. Gunn, who seemed relaxed, and having a good time.

" Ah, Gabriel. I only have one request. Have her back by nine. And have a good time, son." Gabriel noticed that Mr. Gunn was a lot less up tight than Fidelio. What this meant, Gabriel had no idea.

" I'll just go and get her, shall I?" Said Fidelio.

" I'll come with you." Said Gabriel, who had a feeling that if Fidelio could find a few more minutes to drill Ria about what she could and couldn't do, he would take it. Gabriel felt that he could save Ria from those few extra minutes.

Gabriel climbed the stairs right behind Fidelio and followed him to a door. From inside he could hear some of the most beautiful music he had ever heard.

Fidelio opened the door to reveal Ria, sitting before a harp. Her fingers pulled gently across the strings, caressing them, bringing forth a music unlike any other.

Gabriel stood there. He was almost unable to move. The music washed over him, bathed him in its warming glow. It was the most amazing sound Gabriel had ever heard.

Fidelio gave a small cough. Apparently he was used to the enchantment that was Ria's music.

Ria looked over her shoulder, and smiled when she saw the boys. She stood up, her fingers leaving the strings still vibrating. Gabriel was sad that it ended. Then he remembered that he was about to go on his first date. Sad feeling gone.

As Ria stood, Gabriel got his first look at what she was wearing. It was a dress that cut off a few inches above the knee. It was a halter top **( Sorry, anyone that doesn't want to read about what she's wearing should probably skip ahead a bit) **and a light blue. Her hair was curled in tight waves, that made it seem much shorter than it really was.

" Sorry, I just wanted to get a little bit of practice in." For the first time that night, Fidelio smirked. He turned to Gabriel.

" She plays the harp when she's _nervous_." There was a laugh hidden in his voice as he said the last word. Gabriel smiled.

" Well, we better get going then."


	10. Chapter 10: A Boat

Chapter Ten: A Boat

**A/N: I'm really sorry about the delay. I've got seven stories, five of which I have to write on. It's taken a while to get back in the mood to write this one. For those of you who are wondering, yes Ria is based off me. **

Gabriel's dad had dropped them off at the restaurant. They were currently sitting at their table, waiting for their orders to come. They were actually finding some pretty interesting things to talk about. One such topic was, and I-being the narrator- quote, " If you were stranded on an island and could only have five things, what would you have?"

Gabriel's answer was logical, as always. He said he would like a life's supply of water bottles, seeds so that he could plant a garden for food, a laptop that never lost its charge, a phone, and a suitcase full of clothes.

" Yeah, that would probably be good. But I can give you one thing that would be better than all of those." Gabriel doubted it.

" Like what?" Gabriel was slightly annoyed by her smirk.

" A boat."

Gabriel and Ria were having dessert. On Ria's part it was lemon meringue pie. On Gabriels it was chocolate cake. They were taking a leisurely pace with it, not really wanting to have to go outside, where it was getting colder.

Ria laughed at something Gabriel had said, causing him to grin. Then it started.

The door flew open and in stormed the Dobinski twins.

" Oh, just wonderful" Gabriel muttered under his breath. Of course, on his first date one of his enemies had to show up.

Ria looked at him, a little bit puzzled. Then she seemed to realize who the new duo were. A look crossed her face that Gabriel couldn't quite identify. Worry? Annoyance?

The she- devils walked over to the pairs table.

" Looks like you finally got out, clothes boy." One of them snarled.

Then something seemed to happen. Both girls started turning blue. And not that weird shade of blue that you get when you get blueberry juice on your fingers, no this was a cobalt blue.

" W-w-w-w-w-w-what's h-h-h-h-happening-g-g-g-g?" One of the twins exclaimed through chattering teeth. Why chattering? Because of the extreme cold that had invaded them.

Ria seemed to be looking out the window. Gabriel followed her gaze and saw a man clothed all in black, standing in the light of the streetlamp.

" The same one" she murmured, unaware of the chaos erupting around her. She looked across the table to Gabriel, and then, finally, to their surroundings.

" Shall we leave?" She asked him quietly. He nodded and they walked out of the restaurant. He looked across the street, but the man was gone.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: Paper Flowers for the De-Dir- Sad Boy.

**A/N: I just started a book called the Red Pyramid, and it ROCKS! Highly recommended for you fantasy readers out there. **

Gabriel walked Ria home. It had just been a formality to use the car the first time, seeing as the restaurant that they had gone to was only a few blocks from both of their houses.

They chatted amiably about many things. The weather-which led to Tancred- and other stuff that was just little tidbits about each other. Gabriel found that Ria's favorite color was purple, and she found out that his was blue.

When they were at Ria's door she turned around to him.

" Thank you so much. I had a wonderful time." She said in all sincerity. He smiled.

" Yeah, of course. I really liked it too. Thanks for coming." There were a few seconds of awkward silence. They were saved from having to make anymore pleasantries by the door opening.

" Ria! Your back!" Said May, who had been the one to open the door. She pulled Ria inside with one hand, Gabriel with the other.

" We've been working on a project. It's a surprise for Fidelio. But it's a secret, so don't tell!" She said starting to look panicked.

" Of course I won't tell him May! It's a secret, after all!" May smiled, and led them both into the living room. Gabriel gasped. And it wasn't an oh-it's-so-beautiful gasp. No, this was an oh-my-gosh-who-rampaged-the-flower-store gasp. The entire inside of the room was coated in pink. Flowers lay all over the place, and Ria's harp was even set in the middle.

Gabriel heard Ria barely conceal a laugh.

" May, what exactly are you doing for Lio?" She asked. May smiled.

"Well, he looked kind of der-dij-dej"

"Dejected?" Gabriel put in.

"Deadly?" Ria said at the same time. Gabriel sniggered.

"Dejected, that's it. He looked kind of dejected after you left, so we thought we'd throw him a party to cheer him up. You know, make him feel less Directed." May said, screwing up the word again.

" Well good for you ,hon." Ria said, surprising Gabriel. That hadn't been what he was expecting.

May smiled and hugged Ria. Ria hugged back, though it was kind of awkward, since six year old May only came up to Ria's waist.

Gabriel grinned. Ria shot him a look that said _shut up._ Gabriel quickly straightened his face.

Ria stepped in the spots on the floor that weren't covered in paper flowers, all the way to where the other girls were making said flowers. Gabriel wisely stayed by the door.

Gabriel watched avidly as Ria showed the girls another way to make the flowers. He decided to slip out while he still could, and was on the porch by the time Ria caught up with him.

"What, you weren't even going to say goodbye?" She said playfully. Gabriel turned around grinning.

"Well, you seemed a little preoccupied just then, so I thought I'd get out of your hair, which, by the way, looks wonderful tonight." This got the desired effect, meaning a blush and a smile.

" Well, I better get going. I have this thing in the morning, and Mom will kill me if I'm out any later." Ria nodded understandingly.

" Alright. Thank you, for tonight. It was wonderful." She said. He smiled, said " Your Welcome" and walked of into the night.

**A/N: *gigglesnort* That was fun. Anyways, thanks to all you awesome reviewers, I love hearing your opinions. Recap: Red Pyramid, Boat, Flowers. Got that? I suppose not. Ah well. Bye Bye. **


	12. Chapter 12: What's This? An Update!

**Chapter Twelve: What is this? An Update?******

**A/N: I know, I know, I haven't updated for like, a year, but I decided to go back and read the Charlie Bone series again, and that led to re-reading this story, which led to wondering what the heck I was doing for an actual plot, which led to deciding to write on said plot. If that makes absolutely any sense.******

**So, my writing style has changed a bit since I last updated, and part of that is that I write much longer chapters now! Oh, and now I have a base plan to my chapters, as opposed to making the plot up as I go. I still do it sometimes, but not as much, and hardly to the same extent. I also make things a little more personal, concentrating more on individual characters rather than the big picture. :) ******

**I think I've kept you waiting long enough! Without further ado, the chapter!**

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Monday came far to early in Ria's opinion. She was NOT a morning person, and Monday's were the worst, being the day right after the weekly respite from early mornings.

She climbed on the bus to find Olivia, who had dyed her hair bright blue, sitting with an empty seat next to her. Ria smiled and waved, making her way back to the rear of the bus where Olivia had chosen to sit.

" This is new." Ria said, pulling on Olivia's newly dyed hair. Olivia made an indignant squawk and pulled away.

" Yup. I change it regularly. I just can't stand to leave it for too long, ya' know?" Ria grinned, and leaned back against the seat, closing her eyes briefly. She smiled as she thought of her date with Gabriel.

" What're you smiling about?" Olivia asked, more out of curiosity than anything else. Ria's mind reeled, but eventually she just decided to tell Olivia the truth.

" My date." Olivia's reaction was instantaneous and incredibly amusing. She nearly did a spit-take with the water bottle that she had been drinking out of, and then screeched in a very high pitched voice,

"YOU HAD A DATE! AND YOU FORGOT TO MENTION THIS HOW?" Ria laughed, taking a moment to commit that to memory. Many a chuckle would come from in the future from remembering this moment.

" It just didn't come up. Gabriel took me out-" Olivia cut her off with a small shriek.

"GABRIEL? Well, I guess I shouldn't really be surprised, I mean, he's a great guy, and he's one of the only single ones in our group except Billy..." She went on like this for several minutes, and Ria just watched in bemused silence.

"-eally does look good in the color green, it matches his eyes, and-" Olivia cut herself off, and gave a chagrined smile.

" I was babbling, wasn't I? I always do that when I'm excited." Ria just chuckled.

" Soooooooo, tell me about the date!" Olivia said, reverting back to pressing Ria for information. With an amused little smile, Ria proceeded to recount every detail about her Saturday night. By the time the bus came to a stop, Ria had just finished her story.

The girls were giggling at something Olivia had said as they walked down the stairs and off of the bus. The boys were standing in the courtyard, all gathered around Gabriel. Judging by his scarlet face, and the way he was rubbing the back of his neck(which he did when her was nervous) they were probably talking about The Date.

" Hey boys!" Olivia said as she bounced up to stand next to them. Before anyone had a chance to say anything, she said,

" Guess what, guess what, guess what!" Again, she gave no one the chance to answer before she blurted out,

" RIA AND GABRIEL WENT OUT ON A DATE!" The guys nodded, and said they knew.

"What's this I hear?" Emma said as she came up with Tancred, the green bus just having gotten there. " A date, Ria?" Ria blushed yet again, and Emma laughed, with Tanced(and soon the rest of the gang) joining in.

Then the bell rang. All of them started making their way towards the coatrooms.

" How did they get it out of you?" Ria whispered to Gabriel as the walked.

" Fidelio started teasing me about it. You?"

" I was with Olivia. No one can hide much from Olivia." Gabriel grinned his agreement, and then they headed their separate ways, to their separate coat rooms.

No one noticed the dark figure standing off to the side of the courtyard, scowling. He had been following her around for a while, and had just found out that she had gone on a date with this 'Gabriel' kid. This wouldn't do.

The figure stayed there for a bit longer, and then sank back into the shadows, plotting the ultimate demise of those who stood in his way. 


End file.
